Warner Bros. Releases Trailer for Xolo Maridueña’s DC film “Blue Beetle”

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Xolo Maridueña is feelin’ blue…

Warner Bros has released the official trailer for the DC film Blue Beetle, starring the 21-year-old Mexican, Cuban, and Ecuadorian American actor.

From filmmaker Angel Manuel Soto, the film will hit theaters on August 18 and will be available for viewing in Imax.

The film was originally conceived for HBO Max, but then the studio pivoted to a theatrical release before Blue Beetle started production.

The first Latin DC superhero feature was developed under the Walter Hamada run era of the studio. Word is the character will be incorporated in the universe being developed by new DC bosses Peter Safran and James Gunn. In the DC canon, Blue Beetle is friends with Booster Gold, another DC character who Gunn/Safran are developing a TV series around.

Maridueña stars in the title role and as his alter ego Jaime Reyes. Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero Blue Beetle.

Starring alongside Maridueña are Adriana Barraza as Jaime’s grandmother, Nana, Damían Alcázar as his father, Elpidia Carrillo as his mother, Bruna Marquezine as Jenny Kord, Raoul Max Trujillo as Carapax, with Oscar winner Susan Sarandon as Victoria Kord, and George Lopez as Jaime’s Uncle Rudy.

The film also stars Belissa Escobedo as Jaime’s sister, Milagro, and Harvey Guillén as Dr. Sanchez.

Soto directs off a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, based on characters from DC.

Zoe Saldana Becomes First Performer to Appear in Top Three Highest Grossing Films Globally

Posted on February 20, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Zoe Saldana is officially a box office blockbuster star…

The 44-year-old Puerto Rican and Dominican American actress’ latest film Avatar: The Way of Water has replaced Titanic as the third-highest grossing film in history.

While the director of both films, James Cameron, has two films in the top three, Saldana appears in all three films, a feat not achieved by any other performer.

The sci-fi sequel Avatar: The Way of Water has generated $2.2433 billion globally, enough to overtake Titanic ($2.2428 billion) at the worldwide box office. Now, The Way of Water trails only Avatar ($2.92 billion) and Avengers: Endgame ($2.7 billion) on the all-time charts.

Saldana stars as Ney’tiri in the Avatar films and appears as her Guardians of the Galaxy character, Gamora.

Like the original “Avatar,” the follow-up’s success is attributed to its generation-spanning appeal as well as the incentive to watch the film in premium and 3D formats. On Imax screens, the movie has crossed $250 million. That’s more coinage than many films manage to earn in their entire theatrical runs.

In North America, “The Way of Water” is the ninth-highest grossing movie ever with $657 million to date. In order to fly higher on the all-time domestic charts, it’ll have to take down Titanic (at No. 8 with $659 million) and Avengers: Infinity War (at No. 7 with $678 million).

Elsewhere, “Avatar 2” recently passed Titanic to become the third-highest grossing international release ever with $1.585 billion. It’s behind only 2009’s Avatar ($2.1 billion) and Avengers: Endgame ($1.9 billion) in terms of overseas ticket sales. Standout markets include China ($242 million), France ($144 million), Germany ($135 million) and Korea ($106 million). It ranks as highest-grossing film of all-time in more than 20 countries, including France, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Rep, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Turkey, UAE, Cambodia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Colombia and Puerto Rico.

Disney and 20th Century spent roughly $460 million to produce and promote The Way of Water, which is one of the most expensive films ever. The long-delayed sequel opened on the big screen in December and has remained in the top five on box office charts for 10 consecutive weeks. Saldana and Sam Worthington star in the otherworldly saga about family. A third installment is set to debut in December 2024 with plans for fourth and fifth entries in the coming years.

Sony Pushes Release of Jared Leto’s “Morbius” to April 1

Posted on January 3, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Jared Leto won’t be flying into theaters as originally planned…

Sony has pushed back the release date for the Marvel film Morbius, starring the 50-year-old part-Spanish American Academy Award winning actor and singer.

While the Columbia Pictures title was previously scheduled to open on January 28, it will now hit theaters in IMAX and premium large formats on April 1.

One factor motivating the push, according to Deadline, was Sony’s huge (continuing) success with Spider-Man: No Way Home, which established itself as the highest-grossing film of 2021 upon its December 17 debut.

The Tom Holland film has grossed upwards of $1.37 billion worldwide so far, and it now looks to continue to do big business on the screens previously saved for Morbius.

In Morbius, from director Daniel Espinosa, Leto portrays the enigmatic antihero Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed. Will good override evil—or will Morbius succumb to his mysterious new urges?

Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal and Tyrese Gibson also star in the film, based on the Marvel Comics, which Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless adapted from their own screen story.

Morbius would have opened on its previous date opposite IFC Films’ crime drama, Clean, starring Adrien Brody, Glenn Fleshler, Richie Merritt and Chandler DuPont; Bradley Bell and Pablo Jones-Soler’s Greenwich Entertainment music doc Charli XCX: Alone Together; and Joe Wright’s musical adaptation of Cyrano, starring Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett and Kelvin Harrison Jr., for MGM and United Artists Releasing.

It’s now set to open against Focus Features’ horror drama You Won’t Be Alone, starring Noomi Rapace and Alice Englert; Universal’s Jo Koy comedy Easter Sunday, also starring Jimmy O. Yang, Tia Carrere, Tiffany Haddish and Lou Diamond Phillips; and STX Entertainment’s thriller The Contractor, toplined by Chris Pine.

Sony to Release Luis Gerardo Méndez’s “Charlie’s Angels” in China on November 15

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Luis Gerardo Méndez will be appearing in Chinese theaters…

Sony‘s reboot of Charlie’s Angels starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska, with the 37-year-old Mexican actor appearing in a supporting role, has landed a China release date of November 15, which is timed exactly with the film’s domestic release.

No other Hollywood titles are opening in the PRC on that date. Charlie’s Angels will face local titles Beautiful Teacher, Hunt Down, Marnie’s Welt and Somewhere Winter.

While the film was originally scheduled to go during the first weekend in November, which is where the first 2000 movie bowed, Terminator: Dark Fate elbowed its way on to that date.

Sony moved Charlie’s Angels to November 15 domestic release date for various reasons: better access to premium screens, aiming to stoke Stewart’s Twilight fanbase (that film also launched in mid-November), plusa China release date.

And this $48M production is going to need China with its global start after landing on domestic tracking last week with a $16M projection to Fox/Disney’s Ford v. Ferrari‘s $23M-$30M forecasted opening. The second movie from Sony Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle made just over $2M in a nascent China exhibition market before the Avatar 3D/Imax boom in the PRC. Ford v. Ferrari will play most of the IMAXglobal network on the Nov. 15-17 weekend, but Charlie’s Angels will be booked on select IMAX domestic screens and in some offshore markets.

Mendez portrays The Saint in the film, which also features Noah Centineo as Langston.

Ana de Armas to Star in Bond 25 Film

Posted on April 26, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

There’s a special Bondin Ana de Armas’ future…

The producers of Bond 25 have revealed key cast and production details from Jamaica, the iconic location for previous Bond films including Dr. No and Live and Let Die.

Broadcasting live on Twitter, the production confirmed incoming cast including the 30-year-old Spanish/Cuban actress.

de Armas previously starred in another high-profile film, Blade Runner 2049, which earned her a Saturn Awardnomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In addition to de Armas, other cast members include Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Billy Magnussen, David Dencik, and Dali Benssalah.

Returning franchise cast members include Ralph Fiennes, Lea Seydoux,Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Rory Kinnearand Ben Whishaw. Daniel Craig returns as James Bond.

A title wasn’t revealed but producer Barbara Broccolisaid the film will start in Jamaica where “Bond is not on active service, he is enjoying himself. We’ve got quite a ride in store for him.” His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from theCIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

The production has already shot in Norway and will head over to the UK’s Pinewood studio then onto Matera in Italy. The movie will be the first Bond to use IMAXcameras.

Cary Joji Fukunagais writer-director. Malek is expected to portray the film’s villain.

The film recently had a release date change from February 14 2020 to April 8 2020. Additional writers on the script were today confirmed as Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, Scott Z Burnsand Fleabag‘s Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

MGM will release the film domestically through their United Artists Releasingbanner on April 8. It will go through Universal Pictures International and MGM in the UK and internationally from April 3, 2020.

Rodriguez & Brewster’s “Furious 7” Becomes Universal Pictures’ First-Ever Billion-Dollar Film

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster have a billion reason to celebrate…

The 36-year-old Puerto Rican and Dominican-American actress and 34-year-old Brazilian-Panamanian actress’ latest film, Furious 7, has become Universal Pictures’ first-ever billion-dollar movie, and the entertainment company’s leader talked online about the notable moment for the 103-year-old studio.

“Today marks a significant milestone in our history,” NBCUniversal Vice Chairman Ron Meyer wrote in a blog post as the setua-sequel raced past that global-boxoffice milestone in just its 17th day in release.

The actioner, also starring Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker, has banked an estimated $265.3M domestically and is expected to win again this weekend both at hone and overseas, making it three consecutive winning frames.

Early Friday matinee estimates show that Furious 7 is on track to make $8M-$8.5M for a three-day estimate of between $25 million and $26 million. It still is commanding the Imax screens in its third weekend. The film took in about $2.9M Thursday on 4,022 total runs. The actioner, which stopped production after Walker died in a November 2013 car crash, initially was supposed to bow last summer, but that date had to be overhauled. With the extra time, Universal was able to pick the perfect distribution date and implement a strong marketing campaign with two of the most social powerhouses on the Internet: Diesel and Dwayne Johnson.

Picking the April 3, 2015, distribution date meant the film was able to enjoy four weeks of play both on Imax and in the nation’s theaters until May 1, when Marvel/Disney releases mega-sequel Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

Furious 7 is the first film since last year’s Transformers: Age of Extinction to top $1 billion worldwide and already is No. 20 on the all-time list.

del Toro Reveals New Details About His “Pacific Rim” Animated Series

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Guillermo del Toro is taking Pacific Rim to the small screen… And, he’s letting the world in on the concept.

Following the international success of his 2013 sci-fi monster film, the 49-year-old Mexican filmmaker will not only release a sequel. He’ll also launch an animated series.

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, del Toro opened up about the storyline for the upcoming television show.

“We’re formulating ideas that are, again, interesting and not the usual route, but the series tackles the stories that happened to pilots working in the Shatterdome (a building where jaegers are built and maintained and pilots train), but also cadets learning how to become pilots,” he declares.

del Toro notes the stories take place prior to events in the first film, adding, “It gives you a little more depth into the background of certain characters that will appear in the second movie. So it’s really expanding the material.”

The filmmaker hopes that with the planned movie sequel, the animated series and the comic book series, fans will “have a good feel for the world, and we can dedicate ourselves to character and ideas and spectacle.” Asked where the television show will land, he says, “We are talking about all the possibilities in terms of networks.”

Meanwhile, Pacific Rim 2 has been slated for April 7, 2017 release in 3D and IMAX theaters.

del Toro says the sequel will be “very different” from the first one.

“I don’t want to spoil it, but I think at the end of the second movie, people will find out that the two movies stand on their own,” he teases. “They’re very different from each other, although hopefully bringing the same joyful giant spectacle. But the tenor of the two movies will be quite different.”

Cuarón Sci-Fi Film “Gravity” Headed to the Zurich International Film Festival

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón is bringing a little gravity to Switzerland…

The 51-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s highly anticipated new film Gravity will be screened at this year’s Zurich International Film Festival.

Cuarón’s new sci-fi film, which was written by him and his son Jonás Cuarón, will get a gala premiere at the festival.

The film centers on Dr. Stone (Sandra Bullock), a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney). But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone—tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they’ve lost any link to Earth… and any chance for rescue.

The full Zurich Festival line-up will be announced by September 12. The 9th Zurich International Film Festival runs from September 26- October 6.

Gravity is scheduled to hit theaters in IMAX and 3D on October 4th.

Cuarón’s previous credits include Great Expectations, Y tu mamá también, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Children of Men.

Metallica’s Trujillo Makes Special Appearance at Comic-Con

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

He may be a hard-core bassist, but Robert Trujillo has managed to steal the show at his first-ever appearance at Comic-Con.

The 48-year-old Mexican musician and his Metallica bandmates made their highly anticipated debut at the convention to preview their new film “Metallica Through the Never: An IMAX 3D Experience,” which is being called a twist on the traditional concert film.

“This is f—ing awesome,” said Metallica’s drummer, Lars Ulrich, as the band was greeted with a thunderous standing ovation from a near capacity crowd at Hall H.

Ulrich was joined onstage by Trujillo, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and the film’s star Dane DeHaan, writer-director Nimrod Antal and producer Charlotte Huggins.

The panel began with an adrenaline-rush as the band premiered the new theatrical poster and trailer for the film, which featured more Metallica and more post-apocalyptic violence than the teaser released in May.

The film features a monstrous stage that takes up nearly the whole floor of Vancouver’s Rogers Arena, where the band performs in the film.

“The stage was the first part of all of it,” said Hetfield. Adding that the band treated the concerts as a film shoot, sometimes starting and stopping for multiple takes, sometime performing full sets during their five shows at Rogers Arena.

“The stage is the star of the film,” added Ulrich. “Making a movie about a stage, and then bringing it to the people is a cool idea.”

The audience was also treated to a never-before-seen scene from the film that featured more post-apocalyptic mayhem. The band’s blistering song “Cyanide” serves as the scene’s backdrop.

The IMAX 3D film comes out on September 27th and will be in wide release on October 4th.

Trailer Released for Trujillo’s Film “Metallica: Through The Never”

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Robert Trujillo is ready for his big screen close-up…

The first trailer has been released for Nimród Antal’s 3D concert-suspense film Metallica: Through The Never, which stars the 48-year-old Mexican musician and current Metallica bassist.

Along with Trujillo, the film features band members Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett along with Chronicle‘s Dane DeHaan as a crew member whose life is turned on its head during a show.

Metallica: Through the Never features some eye-catching visuals, as well as some serious heavy metal.

The film rolls out for a one-week IMAX run in North America on September 27 and expands October 4.

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